One Nation, Under a New Obama Salute  —  George Bush had his three-fingered W salute that supporters flashed when greeting him at presidential campaign events in 2000.  And now, if a Los Angeles creative agency gets its way, Sen. Barack Obama will see fans meet him with his own salute like the one above.

Cohen on track for decisive victory  —  The bet Steve Cohen campaign made with himself and with the city of Memphis might have seemed naïve.  —  Some critics called it pandering.  —  But Cohen's gut told him to run on his record.  He said his heart told him to embrace the presidential rival …

BILL CLINTON OFFERED SPEAKING ROLE  —  From NBC's Andrea Mitchell  —  NBC News has learned that the Obama campaign, in an effort to quiet talk of the Obama-Clinton drama, has offered Bill Clinton a speaking role on Wednesday night at the Democratic convention — before the vice presidential running mate speaks.

Know-Nothing Politics  —  So the G.O.P. has found its issue for the 2008 election.  For the next three months the party plans to keep chanting: “Drill here!  Drill now!  Drill here!  Drill now!  Four legs good, two legs bad!”  O.K., I added that last part.

Lomong Is Chosen To Carry U.S. Flag  —  Sudan Native Became U.S. Citizen in 2007  —  Sudanese refugee Lopez Lomong was chosen by his U.S. Olympic teammates Wednesday to be the American delegation's flag-bearer at Friday's Opening Ceremonies, a move that will cast an additional spotlight …

John Edwards love child rumours threaten the Barack Obama presidential campaign  —  Barack Obama's supporters yesterday tried to distance him from a potentially damaging sex scandal.  —  His possible running mate John Edwards faced renewed suggestions that he had a love child.

Suskind Revisited  —  Thursday, August 7th in War by Philip Giraldi  —  An extremely reliable and well placed source in the intelligence community has informed me that Ron Suskind's revelation that the White House ordered the preparation of a forged letter linking Saddam Hussein to al-Qaeda …

Exxon-Obama  —  Via Jim Geraghty at Campaign Spot, we have this from Jake Tapper at ABC: … Geraghty's post is titled: … Sorry we don't have time to create an entire site, but perhaps this will help...  What's next, we find out that Obama is a puppet of Dick Cheney?

My Party Should Respect Secret Union Ballots  —  As a congressman, senator and one-time Democratic nominee for the presidency, I've participated in my share of vigorous public debates over issues of great consequence.  And the public has been free to accept or reject the decisions …

Lord of the Memes  —  All my life I've been a successful pseudo-intellectual, sprinkling quotations from Kafka, Epictetus and Derrida into my conversations, impressing dates and making my friends feel mentally inferior.  But over the last few years, it's stopped working.  People just look at me blankly.

Seven-year-old to Michelle Obama: Let's finish what we started in Iraq  —  I'll say this much for the Obamas: No one has more interesting political conversations with second-graders than they do.  Something for everyone here — for the righties, some easy snark that the correct way to proceed …

Georgian army moves to retake South Ossetia  —  TSKHINVALI, Georgia - Georgian troops launched a major military offensive Friday to regain control over the breakaway province of South Ossetia, prompting a furious response from Russia — which vowed retaliation and sent a column of tanks into the region.

Obama starts isle vacation tomorrow  —  Sen. Barack Obama will get his Hawaii vacation after all.  The Illinois Democrat is expected to arrive in Honolulu tomorrow for a nine-day vacation.  —  The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee is expected to be accompanied by his wife and two daughters.

Bizarre Incident During Obama Visit to Ohio College Is Seen as Unavoidable  —  Officials of the U.S. Secret Service say there is nothing they could have done to avoid an incident yesterday in which Barack Obama was heckled by a strangely behaving man in the press section during an appearance at an Ohio college.

U.S. Attorney Scandal Probe Enters White House Circle  —  The Justice Department investigation into the firings of nine U.S. attorneys has been extended to encompass allegations that senior White House officials played a role in providing false and misleading information to Congress …

Selective Editing?  —  A man has be arrested for making threats against Barack Obama.  —  Notice any difference in how the story is told, however?  —  CNN's version: … AP's version: … Sorry, AP, I don't want to get sued, but need the whole thing for comparative purposes.

Group Plans Campaign Against G.O.P. Donors  —  Nearly 10,000 of the biggest donors to Republican candidates and causes across the country will probably receive a foreboding “warning” letter in the mail next week.  —  The letter is an opening shot across the bow from an unusual …

WPRI Poll: Barack Obama Leads John McCain in the Presidential Race  —  Senator Barack Obama holds a 44% to 38% lead in Wisconsin over Senator John McCain in the presidential race.  Senator Obama leads the race primarily because of a combination of the most important issues on the minds …